We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Johnston, OOIDA's president and CEO since its founding, dies at 78
newsworthy

Johnston, OOIDA's president and CEO since its founding, dies at 78

January 9, 2018
DC Velocity Staff
No Comments

Jim Johnston, who co-founded the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) in 1973 out of a trailer chained to a truck stop's light pole in the Kansas City suburb of Grain Valley, Mo., helped build it into to an organization with more than 160,000 members, and served as its president and CEO for nearly 45 years, died yesterday at his home in Grain Valley after a year-long battle with lung cancer. He was 78.

Johnston, a truck driver by training, helped start OOIDA after recognizing that thousands of owner-operators did not have a unified voice to lobby lawmakers and regulators about issues impacting their lives and livelihoods. The catalyst was a visit to Washington by a group of frustrated owner-operators concerned that their industry was being crippled by soaring diesel fuel prices from the Arab oil embargo in the early 1970s.

The vast majority of U.S. trucking is composed of fleets with fewer than 5 trucks. Within that enormous group, most are owner-operators with one truck.

Johnston continued as OOIDA president and CEO until his death. Despite his illness, he remained an active force in OOIDA affairs and trucking issues in general, according to Norita Taylor, a spokeswoman for the group. Johnston's last battle, trying to thwart the federal government's plans to require Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) to be installed in virtually every truck in the U.S., ended with the mandate taking effect last Dec. 18, despite OOIDA's two-year effort to block it in the courts and Congress. Johnston, who bitterly opposed the rule as unconstitutional, costly and unnecessary, called it the most damaging regulation ever to be foisted on the trucking industry.

OOIDA and the American Trucking Associations (ATA), which represents the interests of larger fleets, frequently clashed on policy issues. For example, ATA supported the ELD mandate, in part because it believed the rule would encourage safe driving behavior and partly because many of its members had installed electronic logs in their cabs long before the mandate took effect.

In a statement, Robert Voltmann, president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), a group representing freight brokers and third-party logistics (3PL) providers, called Johnston a "fixture within the transportation industry" and a "force to be reckoned with." ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said in a separate statement that Johnston "was a passionate leader for drivers and the industry, advocating issues that helped build this great nation. Jim never strayed from who he was and who he represented—truckers."

Transportation Trucking Truckload
KEYWORDS American Trucking Associations OOIDA - Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Transportation Intermediaries Association
  • Related Articles

    Spear, ATA president, tears into OOIDA over its agenda, tactics

    Long-time supply chain thought leader Art van Bodegraven dies at age 78

    Trump vs Todd: OOIDA boss takes president to task over trucker policy focus

Recent Articles by DC Velocity Staff

E-commerce provider to pay warehouse workers more than $1 million in back wages

Procurement pros say inflation is top concern

Air freight rates slump from historic highs

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • FedEx agrees to buy 10% stake in Berkshire Grey

  • The robots are here. Now what?

  • No vacancy at the warehouse

  • Shippers, battling escalating packaging costs, look for answers

  • Investment group pays $5.2 billion to buy Amazon air freight contractor Atlas Air

Now Playing on DCV-TV

5dd7b388 1f0e 40fc 9e78 2670e0e55fd2

What happens to your supply chain when chaos meets confusion?

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Over the last several months, I’ve given many presentations about the events and potential changes impacting supply chains. After one of them, an individual approached me with a very interesting observation: “It’s not just that these things occurred, it's that we were blindsided by them. We never saw it coming.”...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Choose the Best Auto ID Technology for Tracking RTIs

  • 8 ways your facility can benefit from Hyster Reaction

  • Why Use RFID to Track RTIs

  • THE NEW WAY TO WAREHOUSE: 4 Innovations in Automation & Robotics to Boost Warehouse Productivity

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2022. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing